Kyle Walker reveals emotional Andre Villas-Boas reaction when he was sacked by Tottenham

Kyle Walker has revealed that a number of Tottenham gamers cried when Andre Villas-Boas was sacked by chairman Daniel Levy.

Talking on his You’ll By no means Beat Kyle Walker podcast, Walker detailed the gut-punch of emotion when the favored Villas-Boas advised the squad he was being pressured to go away.

“I’ve bought tears working down my eyes… Michael Dawson is welling up,” mentioned Walker. “That’s how a lot he meant to the lads.”

Villas-Boas loved first season at White Hart Lane throughout 2012/13, taking Spurs to the brink of the Champions League with a squad that included an emergent Gareth Bale. Nonetheless, the North London aspect missed out on qualification for Europe’s elite competitors by one level and Bale was offered to Actual Madrid for £85.3 million.

This charge–which was a world document on the time–was invested badly and AVB quickly discovered himself underneath strain. Spurs changed an icon with Christian Eriksen, Paulinho, Roberto Soldado, Nacer Chadli, Etienne Capoue, Erik Lamela and Vlad Chiriches. Eriksen was the one huge success, and earlier than too lengthy, Villas-Boas paid the value.

“Bale was a large, huge loss,” mentioned Walker. “They signed seven gamers off the again of the Bale cash. There’s a variety of modifications there and we simply by no means actually gelled in time for him [Villas-Boas] to then do nicely.”

Walker admits the workforce “didn’t do him justice,” however that Villas-Boas made a significant impression, saying “for 10 or 12 males to be crying as a result of the supervisor’s gone, he’s accomplished one thing nicely within the dressing room”.

Villas-Boas took over at Zenit Saint Petersburg shortly after leaving the Premier League, progressing on to handle Shanghai SIPG and most not too long ago Marseille in Ligue 1. The 46-year-old is now the president of Porto, the membership the place he captured a treble that included the Europa League earlier than he moved to England with Chelsea in 2011.

Walker joined Manchester Metropolis in 2017, the place he constructed on his status to determine himself as one of many world’s finest right-backs. Famed for his tempo and problem to beat in one-on-ones, he’s loved an period of success on the most dominant membership within the nation, together with a treble of his personal.